1.13.2011

The Anointing: Do I still have it? Can I lose it? (Part 2)

So what separates us from the presence of God? Romans 8 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. But what about the Spirit? Is there anything that can separate us from that person? I’ve spoken to friends about what they felt drove a wedge between them and the Spirit of God. What kept them from entering into the presence of God? What made them almost embarrassed to lift hands during praise and worship? Most of them said it was their own pride, desires, and sin that caused a dissention between their spirit and THE Spirit. Let’s go back to Samson and see what we can learn from him.

As we discussed earlier, Samson received his power from the Holy Spirit. Although he thought it was from his hair because that was his only consistency, we learned that his power was only present when the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. However, when he laid his head in Delilah’s lap, Samson didn’t realize the Spirit left him and when he went to escape his captors, he just didn’t have the same strength as before. …but his hair did begin to grow back a little later (along with his connection to the Spirit).

Now lets go to I Samuel and look at Saul. In chapter 16, verse 14, we see that the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and in its stead, an evil spirit settled on him. We see here that the Spirit of the Lord cannot occupy the same space as a spirit of darkness.

So how does this relate to sex? Well, as we’ve examined in other entries, you share more than your bodies during sexual intercourse. There’s the whole oxytocin thing, in addition to the actual physical exchange. However, the most powerful of these is the spiritual exchange that can occur. They don’t make condoms that block spiritual transference…sorry. We can work to prevent pregnancy and the spread of STIs by barrier methods, but there is nothing that can block a spirit from entering a vessel if it’s not filled with the Holy Spirit. So what causes the Holy Spirit to leave? You guessed it: sin. Yep, when we do things that are against the Will of God, the Holy Spirit chucks the deuces, leaving you vacant for a new tenant.

Check this out:I Corinthians 6:16-20 (MSG): There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-molded love, for “becoming one” within another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

Then you have Romans 12:1 that instructs us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing unto God as a spiritual act of worship. You see, our bodies/vessels are a place for the Holy Spirit to dwell. When we do things that grieve the spirit, such as sex outside of marriage, the Spirit departs and our vessels are open for another indwelling. Have you ever noticed that after being in a relationship with someone (and being intimate with them), you start doing things alike? Heck, even if you’re not intimate, as with friends, you might complete each other’s sentences or have entire conversations with glances and no words exchanged. What happens is that your spirits start to enmesh. You might incorporate their catch phrases into your vocabulary or find yourself even shaking your foot like they do, even though you used to find it annoying. Like the saying, “birds of a feather flock together,” I think you might start “flocking” after being together. To copy another saying, “eagles don’t fly with pigeons.” So if you’re planning to soar, why are you hanging in the park looking for breadcrumbs?

Genesis 2:24 instructs us to leave our family of origin and become one flesh with our mates. This is so much more than a physical union, but the physical accurately depicts the spiritual (and chemical). By nature, women are receptors and men are depositors. Semen is deposited in the vagina and travels to the uterus to unite with the egg and create life. However, what about the spirit of deceit that may be left behind? Selfishness? Lust? Irresponsibility? You get the idea. Fellas aren’t left off the hook though. Just as a man can contract a sexually transmitted infection, he can also take with him a spirit of insecurity, greed, or conceit, among others. Get it? With the physical comes the spiritual, but once you do things that evict the Holy Spirit, you’re open for all these other things to set up camp (see Isaiah 63:10).

So to answer the question, can you lose the anointing, I still have to give my “I’m not quite sure.” I think you can do things that grieve the Holy Spirit and allow other spirits to dwell within you. However, it’s Yeshua/Jesus/Christ that’s the Anointed One. I just read a beautiful description of how Jesus’ love is like someone relentlessly chasing you. And if the anointing is tied to Him, I don’t think you’ll be able to shake Him loose. His love will NEVER give up on you and no matter how much we mess up, how many people we have sex with, how many times we’ve fallen, we can’t go anywhere where His love can’t find us. It is, however, still our choice if we want to be found.

In short: be found, get connected, and the anointing will flow.

Scriptures referenced:Romans 8:35-39 NIV 2010: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I Samuel 16:14 The Message: At that very moment the Spirit of God left Saul and in its place a black mood sent by God settled on him. He was terrified.

Romans 12:1 AMP: I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Genesis 2:24 The Message: Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.

Isaiah 63:10 AMP: But they reveled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore He turned to become their enemy and Himself fought against them.

3 comments:

Great blog and a great topic. I think sometimes we as Christians say we want His anointing because it sounds good or because we actually want His anointing on us. We don't understand what that truly means. It is a big responsibility. It takes obedience. The disciples were told to wait on the Holy Spirit to give them power before they got started. On many points I agree with you. God doesn't just give you an assignment, an anointing, a calling (whichever you wanna call it) and leave you hanging. His Spirit must be at the helm.

Who is De-Andrea?

I'm licensed in the State of Missouri as a Clinical Social Worker, currently in the credentialing process to be certified as a Sex Therapist through the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. I'd also describe myself as a worshipper, sister, friend, teacher, student, daughter, motivator, and catalyst for change. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact me at AskASexTherapist@gmail.com or 314-877-8510.